The Nuclear Spies: America's Atomic Intelligence Operation against Hitler and Stalin

by Vince Houghton Narrated by John Lescault

Overview

Why did the US intelligence services fail so spectacularly to know about the Soviet Union's nuclear capabilities following World War II? As Vince Houghton, historian and curator of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, shows us, that disastrous failure came just a few years after the Manhattan Project's intelligence team had penetrated the Third Reich and knew every detail of the Nazi's plan for an atomic bomb. What changed and what went wrong?

Houghton's delightful retelling of this fascinating case of American spy ineffectiveness in the then new field of scientific intelligence provides us with a new look at the early years of the Cold War. During that time, scientific intelligence quickly grew to become a significant portion of the CIA budget as it struggled to contend with the incredible advance in weapons and other scientific discoveries immediately after World War II. As Houghton shows, the abilities of the Soviet Union's scientists, its research facilities and laboratories, and its educational system became a key consideration for the CIA in assessing the threat level of its most potent foe. Sadly, for the CIA, scientific intelligence was extremely difficult to do well. For when the Soviet Union detonated its first atomic bomb in 1949, no one in the American intelligence services saw it coming.

Editorial Reviews

Choice

[A] useful introduction to the field of scientific intelligence.

Foreign Affairs

In this neat, enthralling study, Houghton wonders why this successful intelligence operation was followed by the failure to anticipate the first Soviet nuclear test in August 1949.

International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence

As Vince Houghton reports in this beautifully written and well-researched history, the American scientific and strategic community believed they were in a race with Nazi physics, and they had a nagging fear that they might not win that race. The Nuclear Spies explores the administrative, scientific, logistical, and intelligence aspects of the effort to collect, analyze, and disseminate information about a weapon that at the time was neither fully understood nor developed.

The Cipher Brief

A great read: Concise, fact-packed, laden with fascinating anecdotes, and chock full of insights... This book is for everyone, intelligence expert and layperson alike. A page turner.

The Journal of American History

Vince Houghton has written an engaging and well-researched book focusing on the U.S. effort to gather scientific intelligence on the German atomic bomb program during World War II. Houghton expands his scope beyond the war to demonstrate that the scientific and atomic intelligence bureaucracy designed during the war withered in the immediate postwar era.

International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence - James R. Wirtz

"The exploits of the Alsos mission chronicled in The Atomic Spies, and the story of the subsequent less successful effort to predict the timeline of the Soviet acquisition of the bomb, should be read by all those interested in intelligence."

Valerie Plame

"The Nuclear Spiesdeftly navigates the decisions made, for better or worse, by World War II–era American intelligence agencies. This book [adds to our] understanding of scientific intelligence as a tool for national security."

John C. Browne

"The Nuclear Spies is a valuable contribution to the history of science and, in particular, the emergence of scientific intelligence as a national security tool. It delineates the successes and failures of American intelligence organizations during and after WWII, and is critical for our current and future scientific intelligence programs."

Richard Immerman

"Vince Houghton is exceptionally well-versed in the history of the intelligence challenges.The Nuclear Spiesis an illuminating and valuable book describing the terrifying dawn, at the turn from World War II to the Cold War, of scientific intelligence."

Genevieve Lester

"The Nuclear Spies makes a significant contribution to intelligence studies by filling a gap in the literature: the importance of individual and institutional threat perceptions and cultural preconceptions when it comes to the development of strategic policy."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169633924
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	12/10/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged

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